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Course Descriptions

Comparative Judicial Systems (2 credit hours)

The course examines the organization, structure, and jurisdiction of the court systems in the United States, Russia, and other European countries.

This is a comparative version of a course in the American federal judicial system and federal jurisdiction. Emphasis is placed on such issues as the power of the legislative or executive branches to assign or withdraw jurisdiction to the judiciary and the power of the courts to review the actions of other branches. We will examine the organization of court systems, jurisdictional conflict points between courts, and between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in various countries with particular emphasis on the U.S., Russia, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Hungary. Visiting lecturers and tours to the courts and the Duma will enrich our study of court systems in Russia.

The course "Comparative Constitutional Law" covers the fundamentals of the constitutional systems of Russia and Europe. Constitutional recognition of human rights and freedoms in Russia's Constitution and the constitutions of several European countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland and others is considered. Also, analyzed are violations of human rights in countries of the Council of Europe, the relationship between these and similar rights in international charters on human rights, including the activities of the European Court of Human Rights.

A portion of the course is devoted to the examination of parliaments in Russia, the executive branches, the judicial authorities of Russia and European states, and the theoretical foundations for operation of these bodies, for example, the principle of separation of powers. Comparative analysis of the powers of the Presidents of Russia, France and Italy will highlight differences among these states. The class will analyze the activity of the European Parliament and the executive bodies of the European Union as international organizations.

Special attention will be paid to the structure and activities of the Constitutional Courts of Russia, Germany and France, the problems of common cases under their jurisdiction, as well as differences between these courts. Several lectures examine the system of suffrage in Russia and European states. The last lectures focus on the order of the formation and activities of provincial authorities and the comparative problems of local governments in Russia and European countries.